Garlic Knots

4.87 from 15 votes

Soft homemade garlic knots made from scratch and brushed with garlic basil butter before baking. Golden on top, soft in the middle, and best served warm. Store bought pizza dough works too if you want them faster.

Prep Time30

Cook Time12

Rising Time1

Total Time2

Course: Bread, Rolls

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread rolls, garlic basil knots, garlic knots

Servings:

Calories: 135kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

Ingredients

Knots

1 cup warm water
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
3¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

Garlic Basil Butter

2 tablespoons butter melted
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Stir the 3 teaspoons yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar into the 1 cup warm water. Leave it 10 minutes, until it looks foamy on top.
Add the 3¼ cups flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon salt to the bowl of your mixer. Mix with a dough hook until a smooth dough forms.
Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm for 1 to 2 hours, until it's doubled in size.
Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Tip the dough onto a floured counter and roll it out to about ½ inch thick. Cut it into 15 strips. Take a strip, make a loop, and pull one end through the middle. Tuck the ends underneath. Put each knot on the lined baking sheet as you finish it, leaving a couple of inches between them so they have room to puff up.
Mix the 2 tablespoons melted butter with the minced garlic and chopped basil. Brush it over the knots on the sheet.
Let them sit on the sheet for 10 minutes. Then into the oven for 9 to 12 minutes, until golden on top.
They're best in the first 20 minutes.

Video

Notes

Total time includes 10 minutes to activate the yeast and a 10 minute rest after shaping, which the prep and cook times don't cover.
The water should be warm, not hot. Hot water kills the yeast.
If the yeast doesn't foam in 10 minutes it's dead. Start over with fresh yeast.
The dough should be soft and slightly tacky. Too much flour makes the knots dry.
Go by size rather than the clock for the rise. A cold kitchen takes longer.
Mince the garlic finely so it doesn't catch and burn on top.
Shortcut: use a 1 pound ball of store bought pizza dough. Bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes, then roll, cut and knot as directed. Skips the mixing and rising.
Make ahead: shape, refrigerate overnight, bring to room temperature 30 minutes before baking.
Freeze unbaked on a tray then bag, 2 to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.

Nutrition